International Community Health Services (ICHS) receives two major honors

ICHS in Shoreline
Photo by Steven H. Robinson

For a second year in a row, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has named ICHS a “National Quality Leader.” This year, ICHS is the only community health center in Washington state to receive the honor.

ICHS was also recognized as a “success story” by the Washington Health Alliance and the Washington Health Care Authority in the new Washington State Common Measure Set for Health Care Quality and Cost. The report analyzes 52 medical measures to enable a common way to track how the health care system is performing. ICHS was identified among the top performing medical groups in the state for the Medicaid population they serve.

As the only National Quality Leader in 2015, ICHS will get an additional $40,713, bringing to $155,139 the total funding it will receive from the federal 2015 Health Center Quality Improvement Grant awards. The funds will be used to improve primary care service delivery and infrastructure.

About $63.3 million in Affordable Care Act funding was awarded by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) in 2015 to 1,153 health centers throughout the nation, with the “National Quality Leader” designation given to select health centers that are the highest performers compared to national standards and benchmarks in key clinical areas.

HRSA Acting Administrator Jim Macrae said the funds reward those health centers that are achieving the highest levels of clinical quality performance and improvement.

“The awards will help health centers continue to provide comprehensive primary care to the nation’s most vulnerable communities,” he said.

ICHS CEO Teresita Batayola said receiving the National Quality Leader designation for 2015 was especially meaningful, since ICHS also received the same honor in 2014. She added that the recognition from the Washington State Common Measure report affirms the hard work of ICHS’ health care teams to meet high patient care standards.

“We are very proud to receive these honors because they validate our commitment to excellence and our desire to give the best health care to our patients today and in the years to come,” she said.